Bottle top closure with combination lock



Oct. 23, 1962 P. F. DRAGON BOTTLE TOP CLOSURE WITH COMBINATION LOCKFiled Sept. 22, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l Alllllll INVENTOR. Pefer f7Drayon. BY

Oct. 23, 1962 P. F. DRAGON BOTTLE TOP CLOSURE WITH COMBINATION LOCK 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 22, 1960 m. m4 w N w Z Z W; n

3,059,801 Patented Oct. 23, 1962 tice 3,059,801 BOTTLE TOP CLOSURE WETHCUMBIIQ'ATION LGCK Peter F. Dragon, 5601 Castle Drive, ()akiand, Caiif.Filed Sept. 22, 1960, Ser. No. 57,731 7 Claims. (Cl. 215-98) Thisinvention relates to a bottle top closure and more particularly to abottle top closure which incorporates a combination lock.

There is a need for a bottle top closure which can be utilized onbottles for locking the bottles to prevent unauthorized use of thecontents in the bottle. There is also a need for such a device toprevent children from opening the bottles and coming in contact withpoisons or other harmful substances within the bottles.

In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bottletop closure which makes it possible to readily lock the bottle closurein place so that it cannot be removed by unauthorized individuals.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle top closure ofthe above character in which a combination lock is utilized.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle closure of theabove character which can be readily operated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle top closure ofthe above character in which the closure cannot be removed withoutknowledge of the proper combination.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle top closure ofthe above character which can be economically manufactured andassembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle top closure ofthe above character which is attractive in appearance.

Additional objects and features of the invention will appear from thefollowing description in which the preferred embodiment is set forth indetail in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of my bottle top closure screwed ona bottle top.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of my bottle top closure taken alongthe line 2-2 of FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG- URE 2 showing thebottle closure in a position in which the bottle closure can beunthreaded from the bottle top.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the body.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the bottom dial.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the middle dial.

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7--7 of FIGURE2.

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of the cross bar.

FIGURE 9 is a plan view of my bottle top closure.

In general, my bottle top closure incorporating a combination lockincludes a main body having a threaded central recess adapted to bethreaded onto the bottle top. A bottom dial encloses the outer surfaceof the main body to prevent contact with the main body and to preventrotation of the main body independent of rotation of the bottom dialwhen the bottom dial is not in an engaged position with the main body.An additional dial is disposed above the bottom dial and means isprovided for securing the body, the bottom dial, and the additional dialinto a unitary assembly to permit rotation of the body, the bottom dialand the additional dial independently of each other. Cooperative meansis carried by the body and each of the dials and is moved intoengagement to interlock the body and the dials when the dials and thebody are in a predetermined position so that the body can be rotatedbyrotation of the dials.

More specifically my bottle top closure 10 as shown in the drawingsconsists of a main body 11 which has an outer cylindrical surface 12 andan internally threaded recess 13 adapted to be threaded on the top of abottle 15. The body 11 is formed with an annular seat 14 in the upperpart of the recess 13 against which a gasket 16 of suitable material isseated.

The body 11 is also provided with cylindrical portions 17 and 18 withthe cylindrical portion 17 having a diameter which is less than thediameter of the cylindrical portion 12 and with the cylindrical portion18 having a diameter which is less than the diameter of cylindricalportion 17. A cylindrical portion 19 of still smaller diameter isprovided above the portion 17. As will be particularly noted from FIGURE2, the cylindrical portions 12, 17 and 19 of decreasing diameters give astepped effect.

A plurality of male lugs 21 are provided on the upper surfaces 22 ofeach of the cylindrical portions 12, 17 and 18. As shown in thedrawings, three such male lugs have been provided on each of theportions. The lugs as shown are arranged approximately apart. Ithowever, should be pointed out that any number of lugs can be utilizedand that the lugs can be positioned in any desired manner.

The main body 11 is also provided with a hole 24 which extendsdiametrically of the body and generally through the cylindrical portion17. The main body 11 is also formed with recesses 26 in the uppersurface 22 of the cylindrical portion 12 and extend into the hole 24 fora purpose hereinafter described. The main. body 11 is also provided witha central bore 27 also for a purpose hereinafter described.

A bottom dial 28 serves to enclose the outer cylindrical surface 12 ofthe main body 11. As shown particularly in FIGURES 2 and 5, the dial 28is generally in the form of a hollow cylinder which has an insidediameter which is slightly greater than the outside diameter of thecylindrical portion 12 of the main body 11 so that it can be rotatedwith respect to the cylindrical portion 12. The bottom dial 28 isprovided with an inwardly inclined portion 29 which carries a pluralityof numerals 31 evenly spaced around the annular inclined portion 29. Thebottom dial 28 is also provided with an inwardly extending horizontalportion 32 which is adapted to overlie the surface 22 of the bottomcylindrical portion 12. This horizontal portion is formed with femaleslots or notches 35 which are arranged in generally the same manner asthe male lugs provided on the cylindrical portions 12.

One or more additional dials are provided as a part of the bottle topclosure. In the embodiment shown in the drawings I have provided twoadditional dials, a middle dial 33 and a top dial 34. The middle dial 33is in the form of an annular ring which is provided with a verticalportion 36, an inclined portion 37, and a horizontal portion 38. Theinside diameter of the vertical s3 portion 36 is such that it fits overthe cylindrical portion 17 of the main body 11 and can be rotated withrespect thereto. The inclined portion 37' is provided with numerals 31arranged in the same general manner as the numerals on the bottom dial28. The horizontal portion 38 overlies the top surface 22 of thecylindrical portion 17 and is formed with female slots or notches 39which are adapted to engage the male lugs provided on the top of thecylindrical member 17.

The top dial 34 serves as a cap. It is provided with a vertical portion41, the inside diameter of which is slightly greater than the outsidediameter of the cylindrical portion 18 so that it will fit over thecylindrical portion 18 and rotate with respect thereto. It is alsoprovided with an inclined portion 42 which carries numerals 31 and ahorizontal top portion 43. The top portion 43 is formed with femaleslots or notches 44 which are adapted to engage the male lugs providedon the top surface of the cylindrical portion 18 of the main body 11.The top cap 34 is also provided with a vertical stem 45 which extendsthrough the bore 27 provided in the main body 11. A retaining cross bar46 is disposed within the hole 24 provided in the main body and issecured to the bottom portion of the stem 45. It serves to tie the mainbody 11, the bottom dial 28, the middle dial 33 and the top dial 34 intoa unitary assembly and permits rotation of each of the members withrespect to each other when the cooperative means consisting of the malelugs and the female slots or notches provided on the separate parts areout of engagement with each other.

Operation of my bottle top closure may now be briefly described asfollows: Let it be assumed that my bottle top closure is mounted on abottle and that it is in the posiiton shown in FIGURE 2. When the bottletop closure is in this position, any of the dials 28, 33 and 34 may berotated with respect to each other because as can be seen in thedrawing, the male lugs are out of engagement with the female slots. Whensuch is the case, the main body 11, which is threaded onto the bottletop cannot be rotated. Any attempt to rotate the outer dials will merelycause rotation of the dials but not rotation of the main body 11. Themain body 11 cannot be grasped separately because it is enclosed by thedials. For that reason the bottle cannot be opened with the bottle topclosure in this position.

Now, let it be assumed that it is desirable to open the bottle and thatthe user knows the combination. For example, let it be assumed that thecombination is 4-18 as shown in the drawing. The dials are then rotatedso that the numbers 4-1-8 are in alignment from top to bottom as shownin FIGURE 1 with the first number being for the top dial, the secondnumber for the middle dial and the last number for the bottom dial.Movement of the dials to these predetermined positions, places thefemale slots or notches above the corresponding male lugs.

After the dials have been aligned from top to bottom as shown in FIGURE1, the three dials are held in this position by the hand while at thesame time applying a slight downward pressure and a twisting in aclockwise or counterclockwise direction until the entire outer assemblyconsisting of the top, middle and bottom dials drops downwardly into theposition shown in FIGURE 3. Placing the dials in the predeterminedposition lines up the slot provided in each of the dials so that whenthe three dials are rotated in unison to the proper position all threeof the dials will drop downwardly into engagement with the male lugsprovided on the main body 11 and to thereby interlock the dials with themain body. All three of the dials must be in the proper position. Ifonly one of the dials is in an improper position, this one dial cannotdrop into engagement with its corresponding lugs on the main body 11 atthe time the other dials are in proper positions. Therefore, none of thedials can drop into engagement with the main body 11 because all three 4dials are tied together by the cross bar 46. It is for this reason thatall three dials must be in the proper position before the three dialscan drop down into engagement with the male lugs.

As soon as the outer assembly of the cap, that is, the three dials,drops down to cause engagement of the cooperative means, the retainerbar 46 also drops down into the recesses 26 to engage the main body 11.The entire cap assembly now can be rotated to unscrew the body 11 fromthe bottle top.

Now let it be assumed that it is desired to again close the bottle. Mybottle closure can be threaded onto the bottle top in the same manner inwhich it was unthreaded because the male lugs on the main body are stillin engagement with the female notches in the dials. As soon as thebottle closure has been threaded onto the bottle top, the combinationcan be confused merely by lifting the outer assembly of the cap, thatis, the outer three dials to lift the female slots out of engagementwith the male lugs and then rotating the separate dials in variousdirections.

Although my disclosure relates to a bottle cap closure having threedials it is readily apparent that as few as two dials or as many dialsas desired can be utilized. The bottle top closure can be made of anysuitable material such as plastic.

It is apparent from the foregoing that I have provided new and improvedbottle top closure which makes it possible to lock the bottle to preventunauthorized use of the contents in the bottle. The bottle top closureis also of such a type that it can be sold as a novelty item. It is alsoapparent that although the disclosure relates primarily to a bottle topclosure, the closure device is readily adaptable for other uses such ascovering a push button or switch to prevent unauthorized operation.

I claim:

1. In a closure device incorporating a combination lock, a main bodyhaving a threaded central recess and serving as closing means, a bottomdial enclosing the outer surface of the main body, an additional dial,means securing said body, said bottom dial and said additional dial intoa unitary assembly to permit rotation of the bottom dial and theadditional dial independently of each other and with respect to thebody, and cooperative means carried by said body with said dials andmovable into engagement to interlock said body and said dials when saiddials are in a predetermined position with respect to said body so thatsaid body can be rotated by rotation of the dials, to permit removal ofthe closure device.

2. A closure as in claim 1 wherein said cooperative means is moved intoand out of engagement in a direction at right angles to the planes ofrotation of the dials.

3. A closure as in claim 1 wherein said cooperative means includesengaging means carried on each of said dials and the body.

4. In a bottle top closure incorporating a combination lock, a main bodyhaving a threaded central recess adapted to be threaded onto the bottletop to close the same, said main body having bottom, middle and topcylindrical portions, a bottom dial enclosing the bottom cylindricalportion of said main body and a middle dial disposed above said bottomdial and enclosing the middle cylindrical portion of said main body, atop dial disposed above the middle dial and enclosing the topcylindrical portion of the main body, means securing said main body,said bottom dial, said middle dial, and said top dial into a unitaryassembly to permit rotation of the top, middle and bottom dials inparallel planes with respect to each other and independently of the mainbody, and cooperative means carried by said main body and each of saiddials and movable into engagement to interlock said dials with said bodywhen said dials are in a predetermined position with respect to saidbody so that said body can line 1rotated and said bottle top opened byrotation of said 5 6 5. A bottle top closure as in claim 4 wherein saiddials 7. A bottle top closure as in claim 4 wherein said dials aremovable into interlocking engagement with said body are provided withinclined surfaces having numerals in a direction at right angles to theplanes of rotation of thereon. said dials.

6. A bottle top closure as in claim 4 wherein said 5 References Cited inthe filfi of this Patent middle dial overlaps the bottom dial andwherein the top UNITED STATES PATENTS dial overlaps the middle dial andwherein the said top dial 2 9 R D 4 is provided with means for securingthe top dial to the 0 osevear 19 0 main body 2,731,166 Raphael Jan. 17,1956

